An Aphid Effector Targets Trafficking Protein VPS52 in a Host-Specific Manner to Promote Virulence

Plant- and animal-feeding insects secrete saliva inside their hosts, containing effectors, which may promote nutrient release and suppress immunity. Although for plant pathogenic microbes it is well established that effectors target host proteins to modulate host cell processes and promote disease, the host cell targets of herbivorous insects remain elusive. Here, we show that the existing plant pathogenic microbe effector paradigm can be extended to herbivorous insects in that effector-target interactions inside host cells modify critical host processes to promote plant susceptibility. We showed that the effector Mp1 from Myzus persicae associates with the host Vacuolar Protein Sorting Associated Protein52 (VPS52). Using natural variants, we provide a strong link between effector virulence activity and association with VPS52, and show that the association is highly specific to M. persicae-host interactions. Also, coexpression of Mp1, but not Mp1-like variants, specifically with host VPS52s resulted in effector relocalization to vesicle-like structures that associate with prevacuolar compartments. We show that high VPS52 levels negatively impact virulence, and that aphids are able to reduce VPS52 levels during infestation, indicating that VPS52 is an important virulence target. Our work is an important step forward in understanding, at the molecular level, how a major agricultural pest promotes susceptibility during infestation of crop plants. We give evidence that an herbivorous insect employs effectors that interact with host proteins as part of an effective virulence strategy, and that these effectors likely function in a species-specific manner

Radiation-damage produced in BaHfO₃ irradiated with thermal and fast-neutrons

Samples of BaHfO₃ were irradiated with fast and thermal neutrons to produce ^181Hf. Attenuations of the gamma-gamma perturbed angular correlations in ^181Ta were observed, and they may have been caused by the interaction between defects (produced during or after neutron irradiation) and oxygen vacancies. Several defect structures were detected. For one of the structures, an excitation energy of 12 meV was measured, which was attributed to an electron state below the conduction band. The values of the dielectric constant and of the effective electron mass were also deduced

A Fungal Effector With Host Nuclear Localization and DNA-Binding Properties Is Required for Maize Anthracnose Development

Plant pathogens have the capacity to manipulate the host immune system through the secretion of effectors. We identified 27 putative effector proteins encoded in the genome of the maize anthracnose pathogen Colletotrichum graminicola that are likely to target the host’s nucleus, as they simultaneously contain sequence signatures for secretion and nuclear localization. We functionally characterized one protein, identified as CgEP1. This protein is synthesized during the early stages of disease development and is necessary for anthracnose development in maize leaves, stems, and roots. Genetic, molecular, and biochemical studies confirmed that this effector targets the host’s nucleus and defines a novel class of double-stranded DNA-binding protein. We show that CgEP1 arose from a gene duplication in an ancestor of a lineage of monocot-infecting Colletotrichum spp. and has undergone an intense evolution process, with evidence for episodes of positive selection. We detected CgEP1 homologs in several species of a grass-infecting lineage of Colletotrichum spp., suggesting that its function may be conserved across a large number of anthracnose pathogens. Our results demonstrate that effectors targeted to the host nucleus may be key elements for disease development and aid in the understanding of the genetic basis of anthracnose development in maize plants.Fil: Vargas, Walter Alberto. Universidad de Salamanca; España. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Sanz Martín, José M.. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Rech, Gabriel E.. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Armijos Jaramillo, Vinicio D.. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Rivera Rodriguez, Lina Patricia. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Echeverria, María de Las Mercedes. Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Agrarias; ArgentinaFil: Díaz Mínguez, José M.. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Thon, Michael R.. Universidad de Salamanca; EspañaFil: Sukno, Serenella A.. Universidad de Salamanca; Españ

How Prosecutors and Defense Attorneys Differ in Their Use of Neuroscience Evidence

Much of the public debate surrounding the intersection of neuroscience and criminal law is based on assumptions about how prosecutors and defense attorneys differ in their use of neuroscience evidence. For example, according to some commentators, the defense’s use of neuroscience evidence will abdicate criminals of all responsibility for their offenses. In contrast, the prosecution’s use of that same evidence will unfairly punish the most vulnerable defendants as unfixable future dangers to society. This “double- edged sword” view of neuroscience evidence is important for flagging concerns about the law’s construction of criminal responsibility and punishment: it demonstrates that the same information about the defendant can either be mitigating or aggravating depending on who is raising it. Yet empirical assessments of legal decisions reveal a far more nuanced reality, showing that public beliefs about the impact of neuroscience on the criminal law can often be wrong. This Article takes an evidence-based and multidisciplinary approach to examining how courts respond to neuroscience evidence in capital cases when the defense presents it to argue that the defendant’s mental state at the time of the crime was below the given legal requisite due to some neurologic or cognitive deficiency

Caracterizacion escolar. Un acercamiento a las representaciones sociales presentes en la cotidianidad escolar para fomentar la producci?n textual en los estudiantes del grado octavo de la instituci?n educativa fundadores Ram?n Bueno y Jos? Triana de Girardot - Cundinamarca.

104 P?ginasEl trabajo CARACTERIZACION ESCOLAR. Un acercamiento a las representaciones sociales presentes en la cotidianidad escolar para fomentar la producci?n textual en los estudiantes del grado octavo de la Instituci?n Educativa Fundadores Ram?n Bueno y Jos? Triana, es resultado parcial del trabajo liderado desde el Proyecto RE-PRESENTAR LA ESCUELA del semillero de Investigaci?n LENGUAJE Y TERRITORIO ESCOLAR, y del MACROPROYECTO REDESCUBRIR LA ESCUELA. La investigaci?n es un proceso integrador de los entes que componen la territorialidad escolar (estudiantes, padres de familia y docentes).Es un an?lisis de los diferentes espacios de interrelaci?n de estos, es decir, de las mediaciones socioculturales interpretadas a trav?s de las representaciones sociales, elementos que se enlazan hacia la formaci?n de un canal de comunicaci?n por medio de procesos de producci?n textual; focalizando as? las problem?ticas del entorno inmediato de los participantes, las diferentes visiones de los individuos que la integran y las posiciones que estos toman respecto a las mismas, dentro de un proceso de exploraci?n de causales hacia la vinculaci?n de alternativas de cambio que dan significaci?n al territorio escolar y se consolidan en el proceso de producci?n textual que desarrollaron los participantes. Por consiguiente teniendo en cuenta que la escuela desarticula del proceso educativo aspectos socio-culturales que influyen directamente en el desarrollo del mismo y que fortalecen la producci?n textual. Es necesario investigar ?De qu? manera se podr?a caracterizar las representaciones sociales presentes en la cotidianidad escolar para fomentar la producci?n textual en los estamentos del grado octavo? Es as? como la investigaci?n permiti? tomar referentes de la diversificaci?n socio cultural para dar sentido a la caracterizaci?n escolar, revelando la realidad escolar, propiciando espacios de construcci?n colectiva y de participaci?n activa; entrelazando los conocimientos de cada uno de los individuos para fortalecer los mecanismos de intervenci?n y de construcci?n de tejido social desde la producci?n textual, alcanzando as? con este objetivo que los estudiantes desarrollaran procesos cognitivos implicados en los mecanismos de producci?n mientras traduc?an de forma escrita lo que pensaban y sent?an. Por lo tanto, dentro del campo de investigaci?n se tom? una muestra de la poblaci?n de la Instituci?n Educativa Fundadores Ram?n Bueno y Jos? Triana de la ciudad de Girardot Cundinamarca, a?o 2012.ABSTRACT 7 The ?CARACTERIZACION ESCOLAR? work it is an approach to the socials representation in the school to improve the textual produccion in the students of eight level, in the INSTITUCIONEDUCATIVAFUNDADORES RAMON BUENO Y JOSE TRIANA de Girardot Cundinamarca. It is a partial result of the work leaded from the project: ?REPRESENTAR LA ESCUELA seedbed investigation LENGUAJE Y TERRITORIO ESCOLAR and macro project REDESCUBRIR LA ESCUELA. The researching is an integrator process of the entties that make up the school territoriality (students, parents and teachers). It. Is an analysis of the different areas of Interaction of these where interpreted through social representations elements that are linked to the formation of a channel of communication through textual production processes, focus allowed the problems of the immediate environment of the participants and hinted different views of the individual members and the positions they take about the same, within a process causal exploration towards linking exchange alternatives that give meaning to the school grounds and vest in the text production process developed by the participants. Therefore considering the school's educational process dismantles socio-cultural aspects that directly influence its development and to strengthen the text production. It is necessary to investigate what could be characterized as social representations present in everyday school to boost production in the estates textual eighth grade? And research is allowed to take concerning socio cultural diversification to make sense of the characterization school, revealing the realities of school, providing opportunities for collective and active participation; intertwined where knowledge of each individual to strengthen intervention mechanisms and social fabric construction from textual production in the territoriality of the school, reaching this goal that students develop cognitive processes involved in the production mechanisms as translated in writing what they thought and felt. Therefore, research in the field of a sample population of INSTITUCION EDUCATIVA RAMON BUENO Y JOSE TRIANA Cundinamarca, Girardot city, year 2012.INTRODUCCI?N 1. PLANTEAMIENTO DEL PROBLEMA 1.1 DESCRIPCI?N Y FORMULACI?N DELPROBLEMA 2. OBJETIVOS 2.1OBJETIVO GENERAL 2.2OBJETIVOS ESPEC?FICOS 3. JUSTIFICACION 4. DISE?O METODOL?GICO 4.1.ENFOQUE DE INVESTIGACI?N 4.2. POBLACI?N 4.3. MUESTRA 4.4. RECOLECCI?N DE DATOS O DE LA INFORMACI?N 4.4.1. La observaci?n directa 4.4.2. Evidencia fotogr?ficas 4.4.3. Documentos institucionales 4.4.4. Registro de di?logos establecidos con maestros y directivos. 4.4.5. Grupo focal 4.5. FORMA DE RECOLECCI?N DE LA INFORMACI?N 4.5.1. Lectura de contexto 4.5.2. Recopilaci?n de datos 4.5.3 Grupo focal 4.5.4. An?lisis de resultados 4.6. ETAPAS DEL PROCESO 14 16 17 18 18 18 19 21 21 21 22 22 22 22 22 23 23 23 23 23 23 23 9 4.6.1. Tejedores visionarios 4.6.2. Mi escuela mi parche 4.6.3. Escribo a mi manera 4.7. T?CNICAS QUE SE UTILIZARAN PARA REALIZAR EL AN?LISIS DE LOS RESULTADOS 5. REFERENTES 5.1. ANTECEDENTES 5.2. REFERENTE LEGAL 5.3. REFERENTES TE?RICOS 5.3.1 La escuela una caja abierta 5.3.2. Lenguaje y pensamiento 5.3.3. Leer para producir textos y construir contexto 5.3.4. Representaci?n de la realidad 5.3.5. Territorios y espacios escolares 5.3..6. La cultura escolar y comunidad educativa 5.4. REFERENTES PEDAG?GICOS 5.4.1. Estrategias pedag?gicas y pedagog?a del lenguaje 5.4.2. Habilidades intelectuales 5.5. REFERENTES PSICOL?GICOS 6. ANALISIS DE RESULTADOS 6.1 TEJEDORES VISIONARIOS 6.1. 1. Espionaje 6.1.2. Retratos calcados 6.1.3. Pergamino ilustrado 6.2. MI ESCUELA MI PARCHE 6.2.1. Hablo m?s 6.2.2. Grupo focal ?la voz juvenil a trav?s del papel? 6.2.3. Pesquisa a la cuchilla y al parche 6.3. ESCRIBO A MI MANERA 6.3.1 Construcci?n de tejido social 6.3.2. Contexto sociocultural 6.3.3. Convivencia escolar 6.3.4. Construcci?n de ciudadan?a 6.3.5. Carpeta bit?cora 6.3.6. Las TICS en el aula de clases 7. CONCLUSIONES 8. RECOMENDACIONES REFERENCIAS ANEXO

A qualitative assessment of stakeholder perceptions and socio-cultural influences on the acceptability of harm reduction programs in Tijuana, Mexico

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The Mexico-U.S. border region is experiencing rising rates of blood-borne infections among injection drug users (IDUs), emphasizing the need for harm reduction interventions.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We assessed the religious and cultural factors affecting the acceptability and feasibility of three harm reduction interventions – Needle exchange programs (NEPs), syringe vending machines, and safer injection facilities (SIFs) – in Tijuana, Mexico. In-depth qualitative interviews were conducted with 40 community stakeholders to explore cultural and societal-related themes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Themes that emerged included Tijuana's location as a border city, family values, and culture as a mediator of social stigma and empathy towards IDUs. Perception of low levels of both awareness and socio-cultural readiness for harm reduction interventions was noted. Religious culture emerged as a theme, highlighting the important role religious leaders play in determining community responses to harm reduction and rehabilitation strategies for IDUs. The influence of religious culture on stakeholders' opinions concerning harm reduction interventions was evidenced by discussions of family and social values, stigma, and resulting policies.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Religion and politics were described as both a perceived benefit and deterrent, highlighting the need to further explore the overall influences of culture on the acceptability and implementation of harm reduction programs for drug users.</p

Use of Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs That Elevate Cardiovascular Risk: An Examination of Sales and Essential Medicines Lists in Low-, Middle-, and High-Income Countries

PMCID: PMC3570554This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited

Dual energy imaging and intracycle motion correction for CT coronary angiography in patients with intermediate to high likelihood of coronary artery disease

We explored whether intracycle motion correction algorithms (MCAs) might be applicable to dual energy computed tomography coronary angiography in patients with intermediate to high likelihood of coronary artery disease. MCA reconstructions were associated with higher interpretability rates (96.7% vs 87.9%, P < .001), image quality scores (4.12±0.9 vs. 3.76±1.0; P < .0001), and diagnostic performance [area under the curve of 0.95 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.92-0.97) vs 0.89 (95% CI 0.86-0.92); P < .0001] compared to conventional reconstructions. In conclusion, application of intracycle MCA reconstructions to dual energy computed tomography acquisitions was feasible and resulted in significantly higher image quality scores, interpretability, and diagnostic performance.Fil: Carrascosa, Patricia. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Deviggiano, Alejandro. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Leipsic, Jonathon A.. St. Paul's Hospital; CanadáFil: Capunay, Carlos. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: De Zan, Macarena C.. Diagnóstico Maipú; ArgentinaFil: Goldsmit, Alejandro. Sanatorio Güemes; ArgentinaFil: Rodriguez Granillo, Gaston Alfredo. Diagnóstico Maipú; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Houssay. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Medicina. Instituto de Investigaciones Cardiológicas; Argentin